Stepping back into the kitchen is just as big a change as it was last time—the heat and vapor tease their way through my thoughts, almost like I’m back in the bath.
Mama’s still slicing, but she looks up and smiles as we approach.
“Sakuragi-kun,” she says. “Did you say that your parents were expecting you home for dinner?”
Sakuragi-kun’s eyes widen a little. He glances at me, then back to her.
“Uh, we didn’t really talk about it,” he says. “…I’m sure it’d be fine, though.”
Mama breathes a sigh of relief.
“Okay, good,” she says. “I started this big dinner to celebrate having a guest, but then I realized I never actually asked you.”
She gives an ‘oops’ face.
Sakuragi-kun nods.
“Oh,” Sakuragi-kun says. “Mom doesn’t usually mind if I get home later.”
“And your dad?”
Sakuragi-kun freezes for a second, then gives a forced grin.
“I’m… I’m sure he won’t even notice I’m gone,” he says, then quickly follows it up with— “As long as you’re sure I wouldn’t be imposing.”
“Oh nonsense,” she says. “You’d be doing usa favor not letting all this warm, delicious hot pot go to waste.”
Mama shoots Sakuragi-kun a wink.
He blushes a bit but nods.
“Okay. Thank you, ma’am.”
“Of course,” Mama says. “Any friend of Ren’s is welcome here any time. And I’m meeting up with my friends tonight, so I can drop you off on the way—it’s perfect.”
…Right.
Dinner, then home.
Obviously.
Which means…
We won’t really have any time to talk—any questions I have will have to wait.
So, best thing I can do for now is just… not blurt something weird out and make it weird.
I exhale quietly.
…Okay.
Cool.
I can do that.
…
Probably.
Sakuragi-kun and I fall into an easy rhythm, and in no time at all the table is completely set. Shizuka-nee and Papa wander in soon after we’ve finished, and soon we’re all gathered around the table.
“Itadakimasu,” everyone says, and dinner can officially begin.
Steam curls up between us as things start moving—meat, vegetables, noodles—everyone dropping something in, waiting, fishing something else out.
Sakuragi-kun hesitates for a second, watching our example.
“Have you had hot pot before, Sakuragi-kun?” Mama asks.
“Uh… once, I think,” he says. “But it’s been a while.”
“Well, you just grab your ingredients with your chopsticks and then hold them in the pot to cook for a bit. Or you can drop stuff in and pull it out later—all up to you.”
Sakuragi-kun surveys the table a bit before grabbing a mushroom with his chopsticks.
“So I just… put it in?” he asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “Just don’t lose track of it.”
Sakuragi-kun lowers the mushroom into the broth—
And immediately drops it.
Sakuragi-kun mutters something I’m glad Papa didn’t hear.
“It’s okay,” I smile at him. “Drop-and-fish is a perfectly acceptable hot pot strategy.”
I drop my voice to a whisper. “As long as you watch out for pirates.”
“…Pirates?” he asks nervously.
“You’ll see,” I say with a mischievous grin.
Sakuragi-kun keeps a close eye on his mushroom, growing visibly tenser by the second.
Finally, when it seems he can’t stand to wait anymore, he reaches towards it with his chopsticks—
—only for Shizuka-nee’s hand to dart in from the side.
Her chopsticks make a small splash as they fish the mushroom off the surface—
“Shizuka!” Mama shouts.
“Hey—that one’s mine!” Sakuragi-kun chimes in.
Shizuka-nee answers the easier target.
“Then you should’ve grabbed it,” she shoots back, already dropping it onto her plate.
“I told you,” I say. “Pirates.”
She gives a defiant little smirk as she takes her first bite into it.
“No more of that, young lady,” Papa says from the head of the table.
“Yes, Papa,” Shizuka-nee says, deflating a little.
The table is silent for a second.
“…So, Sakuragi-kun,” Mama finally says. “You’re on the same team as Ren, right?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he responds quickly, then pauses. “…My mom is actually the coach.”
“…Oh?”
“Yes, ma’am. She started the team after we moved here.”
“Oh, she did,” Mama says. “How… impressive.”
“That’s one word for it,” Papa mutters.
Mama glances his way. Thinks for a moment.
“…It is,” she says. “Hopefully people have had many kind words for her.”
Papa gives a small snort but focuses on fishing a cube of tofu out of the pot.
Sakuragi-kun just nods quickly and keeps going.
“Uh-huh! She used to play, too,” he adds. “Before we moved.”
“Oh?” Mama says. “That must have been quite the adjustment, then—starting over like that.”
“It was,” he says. “But she said there were a lot of good players in town who had been ‘wasting their talent’. Which… I think was supposed to be a compliment.”
“That sounds like her,” I chuckle.
Mama smiles too.
“Well, it sounds like it’s going well so far,” she says. “You two seem to work well together.”
I snort before I can stop myself. “Except when he makes me redostuff.”
“I don’t do that!” Sakuragi-kun shoots back.
“No? What about last practice?”
“You walked off the field!”
“I had to go to the bathroom!” I shoot back.
“You couldn’t hold it till the end of the game?”
“What happened to ‘baseball is supposed to be fun’?”
“That’s just something Mom says. But really, baseball is war.”
“Ohhh, the general over here,” Shizuka-nee cuts in with glee.
“He’s not a general,” I smirk. “Just a meanie.”
“I’m not mean!” he says.
“You’re a little mean,” I laugh.
“Uptight-kun is the mean one!” Shizuka-nee crows. “This is too good.”
Mama laughs, covering her mouth for a moment before reaching over to adjust something in the pot. “Careful, you’re all going to scare him off.”
“He’ll be fine,” Shizuka-nee says, rolling her eyes. “He’s tough—right, Sakuragi-kun?”
“I can handle a lot if there’s more of this hot pot involved,” he says.
“Aha! A convert!” Shizuka-nee declares.
Mama smiles at that, then glances at her watch—
—and her eyes go wide.
“Oh no,” she says, already pushing her chair back. “I totally lost track of the time!”
Papa gives a puzzled frown as she pushes her chair in.
“Miyako—” he starts, but—
“Sorry to rush you, Sakuragi-kun,” she calls as she crosses the room. “Just give me 15 minutes or so to get ready and then we can go!”
“Miyako!” he calls again, but—
The door slides shut behind her.
The room is quiet for a second.
Papa’s eyes linger on the closed door—so long that for a second I think he might go after her.
Then he turns back to the table.
For a second he doesn’t look at us, doesn’t move.
He just… sits there. Thinking.
Shizuka-nee and I exchange a glance.
Then he turns to our guest, his jaw tight.
“…‘Then we can go.’?” he says. “What did she mean by that, Sakuragi-san?”